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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268708">A Star Wars Halloween</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_now/pseuds/Ava_now'>Ava_now</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Barisi Dads AU [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Law &amp; Order: SVU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Characters Watching Star Wars, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Star Wars References, halloween carnival, light saber play, loving family, mentions of bisexuality, silly pointless plot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:34:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_now/pseuds/Ava_now</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He immediately heard little feet running down the hall toward him.  “Hi Papi!” Marlene greeted him, waving his old red light saber at him.  “See what Abby gived me?  It’s a sword!”  His four-year old waved it around in the air, making accompanying noises.  “Whack!  Whack!  See, I tan tut you!”  She poked him in the gut.  “Whoosh!!!  Bwahahaha!” She began laughing.</p><p>“That’s not a sword, silly,” he told her, grabbing the end and wiggling it so she let go.  “It’s called a light saber, and it’s way cooler than a sword.  It needs batteries...hold on.”  He dug through his chest of drawers and came up with a handful of batteries, then sat down to replace the old ones.</p><p>“I see our little Jedi found you, huh?” Sonny grinned as he came into the bedroom.  “I couldn’t believe your mom just gave that to her.”</p><p>“Eh, she’s just using it for now,” he said, turning it on and handing it back to his daughter.</p><p>*****</p><p>That's how it began.</p><p>Add a rainy Saturday, a trip to Target, and an upcoming Halloween, and what do you get?  Read to find out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Barisi Dads AU [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Star Wars Halloween</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi and thanks for reading!</p><p>This is a very silly, loose plot that was basically just an opportunity to build a little history from the disney vacation fic I wrote, Bippity Boppity Boo!.  You don't have to read that to understand this one at all.  </p><p>In this fic, Marley is four, so it's over a year before they go to Disney.  That's why you'll see her articulation has reverted back to not pronouncing her hard C's.</p><p>I have another fic I wrote a long time ago where she was either two or a toddler, and she was the Cat in the Hat and Rafael and Sonny were Thing One and Thing Two.  It's called Sweet Treats, if Halloween fluff is your thing.  That story is also referenced in this one, where poor Jesse can't win a cake to save her life and then face-plants and busts her nose.  There's a second part of that one, Sweet Treats for Adults, where the adults celebrate halloween.  I'd forgotten about that until now, so maybe I'll write a second one here too, haha!</p><p>Comments and kudos are the absolute best!  Thank you for taking the time to leave them, if you do!  Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rafael was putting away his and Sonny’s laundry when he heard the front door open.  Checking his watch, he saw they were right on time.  “Hello, family!” he called out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He immediately heard little feet running down the hall toward him.  “Hi Papi!” Marlene greeted him, waving his old red light saber at him.  “See what Abby gived me?  It’s a sword!”  His four-year old waved it around in the air, making accompanying noises.  “Whack!  Whack!  See, I tan tut you!”  She poked him in the gut.  “Whoosh!!!  Bwahahaha!” She began laughing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not a sword, silly,” he told her, grabbing the end and wiggling it so she let go.  “It’s called a light saber, and it’s way cooler than a sword.  It needs batteries...hold on.”  He dug through his chest of drawers and came up with a handful of batteries, then sat down to replace the old ones.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see our little Jedi found you, huh?” Sonny grinned as he came into the bedroom.  “I couldn’t believe your mom just </span>
  <em>
    <span>gave</span>
  </em>
  <span> that to her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eh, she’s just using it for now,” he said, turning it on and handing it back to his daughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whoa!!!” Marley gasped as the light came on.  She waved it through the air and it </span>
  <em>
    <span>whooshed</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and her eyes flew wide open.  “Wook at this!”  She began to wave it quickly around, gently tapping Sonny on the sides.  “I got you, Daddy!  I’m the queen of the WORLD!  Muahahahaha!!!”  She took off running into the hallway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Sonny snorted, “good luck getting that one back.”  Hearing Pru suddenly start to bark, Sonny followed the noise.  “Hey, queenie, settle down!” he called, following her out of the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael crossed his arms.  “It’s still mine,” he huffed to nobody.  “Always was, always will be.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been a long, wet, dreary week, and they were all a little cranky.  The weather hadn’t only been wet for the end of September, it had also been chilly.  Friday was date night, but Sonny and Rafael were both so tired they ended up having pizza and beer in bed and snuggling until they fell asleep.  On Saturday, Sonny decided they all needed something special, and he ducked out to run some errands before Marley got home.  When he got back, his daughter was already home and taking an imposed nap, and his husband was attempting one on the couch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” he said quietly, when Rafael opened his eyes.  “Everything okay?’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” he huffed.  “That little stinker decided she would come home and eat the rest of my tub of cookie dough for lunch. You know, the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip tub I bought from O’Dwyer’s kid at work...the one that’s my favorite and I can only get once a year! And when I told her to drop it, she looked right at me and shoved the last bite in her mouth.  And as she’s chewing it up, she’s saying, ‘sowwy, papi’.”  He imitated her so well that Sonny bit back a laugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, lover,” he teased, sitting on the edge of the couch as Rafael moved to make room for him, “I have some surprises to make your day better.  Check it out…” and he handed Rafael two bags from Target.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s this?  Cookie dough?” he asked, nosing through the bags as Sonny chuckled.  “Oh wow!”  He pulled out three light sabers, a jedi robe, Chewbacca and C3PO masks, Star Wars DVDs, and a handful of action figures from the movies.  “Dude...you just brought home my childhood in two bags from Target!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny snorted.  “I just made Rafael Barba say ‘dude’.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You even bought batteries.  Color me impressed, Soleado.”  He began to insert the batteries, and Sonny sat down next to him, opening up the packages of action figures.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A moment later Sonny felt the weight of a small person laying on his back.  “Daddy,” Marley said sleepily, yawning, “what is that stuff?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny chuckled.  “It’s Papi’s childhood.  In two bags.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marley rolled around on Sonny’s back.  “What’s those dolls you got?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’re called action figures.  They’re from Star Wars.  See?  Here’s the movie.  I thought we could watch it together.”  He shot a side look at Rafael.  “We could make Papi’s special cookies to eat as a treat, too!  Don’t you think that’s a good idea?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” she answered.  “Don’t we have ice tream?  We tan eat ice tream, Daddy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny acted surprised.  “Why not cookies?  You know, Papi loves those cookies…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Papi </span>
  <em>
    <span>used </span>
  </em>
  <span>to love his cookies,” Rafael grumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Papi says I’m not allowed to eat no more tookies, Daddy.  Tause I gotted weally, weally hungry and I ate some of his.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh no!” Sonny exclaimed, and tugged Marley around so he could look at her.  She stood in front of him, tapping her feet one at a time on the floor.  “That must have been so sad for Papi.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it was,” she said, sniffling and wiping her nose with her arm.  “Papi got mad.  My belly had a bad idea.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you tell Papi you were sorry?” he asked, poking her in the belly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I did,” she said, nodding, curls askew.  “I telled him I was sorry and I was sad my belly did that.  But my belly was happy, Daddy.  My belly stopped growling.”  She patted her stomach.  “Silly belly.  I don’t know what to do with you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny was biting his lip when he turned to Rafael, who had his face buried in the couch cushion and was turning red.  “If she wasn’t so C-U-T-E, right?  Gets you every time, huh?”  Sonny elbowed him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fighting you both with this light saber,” Rafael told them, suddenly sitting up and turning on the toy.  “This one is mine, understand, little girl?  Red light sabers in this house are MINE!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Green or blue?” Sonny asked Marlene, offering each, and she pointed to one.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Blue, Daddy.”  She pointed to a photo on one of the DVD boxes.  “Wike her.  The princess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah!” Sonny said.  “You see Princess Leia!  I think you absolutely need the blue one, like the princess.  She’s awesome!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is she in the movie?” Marley asked, fiddling with her new light saber.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh honey,” Rafael commented, nodding toward Return of the Jedi, “she IS the movie.”  Leaning in toward Sonny, he added, “And one of the reasons Papi is so happy he’s bi!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marley tapped the tip of her light saber on the floor.  “Papi, you’re bi?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny started laughing as Rafael turned pink.  “Forget I said that, mija,” Rafael told her.  “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Otay.  I won’t tell nobody.”  She waved the light saber in the air.  “What’s bi?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny cleared his throat.  “He means bisexual.  That’s when a person can fall in love with a man or a woman.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marley tapped Sonny on the head with her light saber, and he pushed it off of him.  “Oh, otay.  Tan we watch the movie now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael and Sonny looked at each other and shrugged.  “Sure,” Rafael said, and they put in Star Wars.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael was sitting on the end of the couch, Sonny’s head in his lap.  Sonny was stretched across the rest of the couch, bare feet hanging off the end, and Marley was sitting on the floor in front of them, arranging and rearranging the action figures with each changing scene of the movie.  Pru had made herself at home on the couch near Sonny’s feet, leaning over and licking the top of one of his feet every few minutes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure that furry guy is nice?” Marley asked them again, for what seemed to be the fortieth time.  She clearly was not an immediate fan of Chewbacca, which both men found to be odd.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course he’s nice,” Rafael told her, not taking his eyes off the screen.  “He’s not only nice, he’s cool.  His name is Chewbacca, and he helps Han Solo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s tind of stary.”  She stood him next to Han Solo, then picked up Luke.  “Hey Daddy, you’re Wuke.  You’re this one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah?” he asked.  “Why’s that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tause you both got yellow hair.  And Papi is this one.  Papi is Obi-Wan, tause Obi-Wan is a helper and he’s smart.  And me, I’m Princess Weia!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny glanced up at Rafael and chuckled at his husband’s frown.  “Hey dolly, what about Han Solo?  I thought Papi was Han Solo.  They both have brown hair.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thought for a minute, then said, “Yeah, but...but Han Solo is a smarty pants, Daddy.  And Obi-Wan is smart and knows stuff, just wike Papi.  And Papi don’t need a Chewin’ bacca.  Yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny patted Rafael’s hip.  “Sorry, babe.  I tried.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael sniffed.  “Great.  I’m gonna be Yoda next.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were watching Luke and Han trying to rescue Leia, until Marley suddenly said, “I don’t wike that big mean wobot guy...Darf Vader.  Why’s he talk weird, Papi?  Is it tause he don’t got no mouth?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe so,” Rafael answered, only half paying attention.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s a big meanie guy,” she said.  “I don’t wike him.  Chewy should eat him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eat him?” Sonny laughed.  “Why would Chewy eat him?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tause that’s his NAME, Daddy...duh!  CHEWY…”  Looking less sure of herself, she asked, “Doesn’t he eat people tause his name is Chewy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both chuckled.  “No, honey,” Rafael turned his attention to her.  “That’s just his name.  He’s supposed to be like a person from another planet.  Like humans all look like us...there’s a planet out there where everybody looks like Chewbacca and they all talk like him too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She raised one eyebrow, looking exactly like him, and said incredulously, “No way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not for real,” Sonny quickly interrupted.  “It’s pretend.  But here, they want you to pretend that’s true.  It’s part of the story.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is there a whole planet of Darf Vaders too, Papi?” she asked, playing with the action figures again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No...Darth Vader was hurt a long time ago and that’s why he has to wear that helmet...it helps him breathe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked up at him, eyes wide, then said, “Oh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael nudged Sonny’s elbow.  “I think we may have introduced this a little early.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marley took the Chewbacca figure and bent him in half, and held Princess Leia in her other hand.  “Tome on, Chewy...you tan be my wittle puppy!  Obi-Wan, tome walk our wittle puppy!  He needs to go peepee!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny snorted.  “You think?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few nights later, they were settling down to a dinner at home together.  Rafael was finishing the table while Sonny dished up the soup he was serving.  “Hey, where’s that kid?” he asked, suddenly realizing she was nowhere around.  “Marley, let’s go!” he called.  “Dinner’s ready!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She came running from her bedroom, wrapped in a white sheet and waving her light saber.  “Watch out, guys!” she announced.  “We gotta save some planets!  Tome on, Chewy-boy!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What in the hell?”  Sonny heard Rafael say, and spun around to see Pru wobbling around, with a squirt gun duct-taped to her back and brown yarn tied to her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s Chewy, Papi!  See my good Chewin’ bacca?  We’re gonna help Daddy save all the planets!” She spun around and brought the light saber down, nearly smacking Rafael in the gut.  “Oops...sowwy, Papi!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll save the universe after dinner, lovey,” Sonny told her, taking the light saber out of her hand.  “Go take that off and wash your hands for dinner...and honey, you can’t tape things to Pru.  That hurts her.”  He gently pried the tape off the dog, who whined and then squealed, taking off down the hallway again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marley sighed.  “Fine.  But now I don’t got no good Chewin’ bacca.  That’s stinky, Daddy.”  She stomped down the hallway, pulling the sheet off as she went.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know,” Rafael began, taking a sip of wine and sitting in his chair, “I have to admire her creativity...black duct tape to support the squirt gun, and the brown yarn as fur.  Don’t get me wrong...I’m glad it wasn’t ME who was duct taped to hell, but it kinda made sense anyway.  Not too bad for a four-year old.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny passed him the salad.  “You’re just hoping to persuade her into Star Wars costumes for Halloween.  What happened to our commitment to kids’ book characters?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll tell you what happened,” Rafael griped, taking a healthy serving of bread for his soup, “one of us spent an hour trying to persuade the Paper Bag Princess that there were supposed to be panties on under her paper bag.  That’s what happened.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marley slid into her chair.  “I was the Paper Bag Princess,” she said, taking an immediate bite of her bread.  “Um, Daddy!  It’s yum!” She nodded her head approvingly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Papi and I were just talking about what we should dress up as for Halloween this year,” Sonny mentioned casually.  “He was just thinking what a fantastic Han Solo he’d be.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But he don’t got no Chewin’ bacca, Daddy.”  She ate some soup.  “I know!  You tould be his Chewy, Daddy!”  Suddenly she scrunched her face.  “Nah.  Then we don’t got a Wuke Stywalker.  And what about Pru?  She needs to be somethin’, and you said she tan’t be Chewy.  You made her sad, Daddy.”  They all glanced at the little pug, who was lying on her back on the hallway rug, belly up, waiting for scratches.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Daddy,” Rafael teased.  “She looks devastated.  She doesn’t even know who she is anymore.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Sonny pointed at him, “she’s supposed to be YOUR sidekick, Solo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want Pru to do Halloween with us.  I want her to have a tostume.”  Marley took a long drink of her water.  ‘She’s gonna be such a sad girl if she tan’t dress up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what, are you guys trying to tell me I have to figure out a way to turn this dog into Chewbacca?” Rafael asked, taking another bite of salad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds like it,” Sonny replied, grinning and taking a sip of wine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You tan do it, Papi!  We KNOW you tan!” Marley nodded enthusiastically.  “Cept don’t use any tape.  Daddy says it hurts Pru and makes her sad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Terrific,” he answered, sighing, before draining his wine glass.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look at you guys!”  Olivia exclaimed upon seeing them.  Lucia had invited them all to her school’s Fall Festival, and Olivia had agreed that she and Noah would meet them in the parking lot before entering.  Noah was dressed as Batman, and Sonny was pretty impressed with the details of his costume.  Olivia was a pretty sexy Robin, but Sonny had no intentions of sharing that little thought with anybody.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“See me, Wivvy?  I’m the Princess Weia!  Watch out, you bad guys!” She waved her light saber around until Rafael caught it in his hand and stilled it.  She made a face at him, then turned back to Olivia.  “Do you know Weia?  And Daddy’s Wuke Skywalker!  And Papi was gonna be Obi-Wan ‘cept he wanted to be Han Solo.  And Pru is our Chewin’ bacca!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pru’s costume had turned out incredibly well--primarily because Rafael had given up two days in on making anything and grabbed his credit card.  He searched online, found someone who was willing to construct one for an amount he did not disclose to his husband, and had it done.  Pru was comfortably wearing an appropriate doggy Chewbacca costume, and was currently sitting next to Marley, panting with her tongue hanging out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see!” Olivia responded.  “I love your light saber, Princess Leia!  And check out your hair...classic cinnamon roll style!  Good work, Papi!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it was harder than it looks,” Rafael said.  “Abby’s gonna be excited to see her, though.  She and Marley made the Leia costume this year.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your grandma made your costume?” Noah asked Marley.  “That’s why it doesn’t look like a store costume.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep,” Marley affirmed, petting her Chewy.  “My Abby helped make my Weia dress.  It’s pretty tool, huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noah tilted his head.  “I don’t know a lot about dresses,” he remarked, “but it looks nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They entered the festival area, which was outside on the playground, and purchased wristbands for the kids to play games and a ticket to ride ponies.  They started with cornhole, which Noah excelled at, then did some apple dunking and a bean bag toss before stopping at the cake walk.  Marley and Noah stood on different pictures in the circle and waited for the music to begin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny elbowed Rafael.  “You remember that year we took the kids and poor Jesse not only didn’t win a cake, she also wiped out and cried half the night?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do remember!” Rafael gave a light chuckle.  “Poor kid.  But we got her cake in the end.  She had a terrible night, that night.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was the night Rollins and I had to work late, wasn’t it?” Olivia asked, and Rafael nodded.  “You guys were so sweet to offer to take the kids with you.  I know Noah talked about it for days, how much fun he had, and how much Jesse cried.  We had a few conversations about how it isn’t nice to be amused by other people’s sad moments.”  They all chuckled, as Noah ran over to meet them, but Marley stayed at the cake walk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, dolly,” Sonny called her, motioning for her to join them, but she shook her head no.  He motioned again, and when she didn’t move, he went over to the game and brought her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guarantee she thinks she’s supposed to play until she wins,” Rafael told Olivia.  “We’ll be here all night if we play by her rules.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sure enough, as Sonny escorted a very cross Princess Leia to them, she said loudly, “I didn’t win yet, Daddy!  I’m s’posed to WIN before we weave!”  Huffing, she added, “I need take.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Marley, if we come back later, I’ll try to win you a cake.  I don’t need one,” Noah told her.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You will?” Marley asked, suddenly perking up.  Seeing Noah’s nod, the preschooler smiled.  “Otay, you guys!  Wet’s go!” She took off marching toward the haunted house, and the rest of them followed quickly along.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There she is!  That’s my Abby!  Wookit, Noah--that’s my Abueyeeta!  Hi Abby!”  She waved frantically at Lucia, who was dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and was currently serving drinks to thirsty carnival attendees.  Lucia said something to the woman next to her, then stepped out from behind the counter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There they are!  It’s my sweet Princess Leia!” she fussed loudly, embracing Marlene and then kissing both of her cheeks.  “What a beautiful princess!  And who are all these people with you, Princess Leia?”  She grinned at the group.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s my buddy Noah and he’s Batman and his momma is Wobin but she’s weally Aunt Wivvy.  And Pru is Chewin’ bacca and Daddy is Wuke Stywalker...and your son is Han Solo.  He has brown hair and Chewy but he don’t got no light saber wike me an’ Daddy.”  She looked Lucia up and down.  “Where’s your Toto, Abby?  Dorothy has a Toto, wight?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Behind the counter.  Toto’s taking a nap,” Lucia told her with the confidence of someone who’d told this fib a hundred times tonight.  “What are you going to do next?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ve about finished the carnival,” Rafael told her.  “We just wanted to come by and say hello to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And then we got to win me a take.  Then we tan go home,” Marley reminded him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good for you!” Lucia winked at her.  “Don’t give up until you get one!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liv and Sonny started to chuckle as Rafael’s face turned red.  “I really dislike you sometimes, Mother.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Papi!” Marley cried.  “Don’t talk to your mami wike that!  You gotta wespect your parents!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Papi,” Liv elbowed him.  “Don’t make Princess Leia put you in your place, Han.” Looking at the group, she added, “I bet if we all play together it won’t take very long at all to win a cake for Leia.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good luck!” Lucia told them, kissing Marley on the cheek.  “And have fun!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael pointed at her.  “Don’t come by and ask for a piece.  I mean it!”  Lucia laughed and headed behind the counter again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liv ended up being right.  On the third time around the cake walk, Sonny won, and he quickly grabbed Marley by the hand and headed over to the cake table.  A minute later, they rejoined the group with a cupcake-cake in the shape of a jack-o-lantern.  “Anyone want a cupcake?” Sonny asked, and Marlene echoed him.  “Yeah, anyone want a tup-take?  Daddy won them and he’s good at sharin!  Aren’t you, Daddy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I try,” he responded, as each of them grabbed a cupcake to eat.  “How are they?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I like them, Uncle Sonny!  Thanks!”  Noah took another big bite, with a dollop of frosting ending up on his nose.  Liv chuckled and wiped it off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They are as good as any other fatty sugarbomb you can purchase at a big box store,” Rafael said, taking a lick of his frosting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Such a snob,” Sonny teased, laughing.  “Hey, I could give the extras to your mom--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“NO!” Rafael and Marley replied in unison, and Sonny, Liv, and Noah laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you have fun?” Sonny asked Marlene as he was tucking her into bed that night.  Usually Rafael tucked her in, but this night he had taken Pru for her walk instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I did!  I wish we tould dress up every day!” she answered, snuggling under her covers.  “Don’t you, Daddy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, because then I would never be Sonny Barba-Carisi.  It’s fun to pretend to be Luke Skywalker sometimes, but I like being myself best.  When I’m me, I get to be your dad, and Papi’s husband, and a lawyer--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re wots of things, Daddy!”  She smiled.  “Wike me...I get to be your tid, and Papi’s tid, and Pru’s sister...and...and other stuff!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s right.”  He tucked the blankets around her.  “That’s my favorite part of you.  The real Marlene Barba-Carisi.  Better than any princess, any day.”  He kissed her forehead.  “I love you, sweetheart.  Sleep well, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Night night, Daddy.” He turned the light off by her bed and she rolled over with knuffle bunny in her arms, just as Pru bounded into the bedroom and jumped on her bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go to sleep, girls,” he said softly as he heard Marley giggle at the arrival of her buddy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he got back to the main living area, it was empty, so he went to the bedroom, where he found Rafael, back to the door, eating another cupcake.  “Fatty sugarbombs, huh?” he teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you calling me names?” Rafael asked jokingly.  “Fatty Sugarbomb? That sounds like my superhero name.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny chuckled.  “Funny.  I thought you didn’t like those cupcakes.  I know they’re not the bakery kind you prefer, but it was slim pickin’s on that table.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rafael turned around, offering Sonny a bite.  Sonny opened his mouth and accepted the sweet treat.  “Almost as sweet as you,” Rafael teased him as he ate.  Sonny smiled back, feeling the sugary frosting melt in his mouth.  “You know, I never thought something like this would be enjoyable, but it was,” Rafael told him.  “I’m constantly in awe.  I love my life with you, Soleado.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sonny swiped the last bit of frosting off the cupcake in Rafael’s hand, then offered his thumb to Rafael.  Rafael opened his mouth, accepting the gift, sucking gently until there was nothing but wet warmth against Sonny’s skin.  “Te amo, Rafi,” he said softly, smiling too.  “Siempre, mi amor.”</span>
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